


Feather Fall

by brightandshinynewstories



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe- Maximum Ride
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-10-30 09:25:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17826122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightandshinynewstories/pseuds/brightandshinynewstories
Summary: Three years ago Lup, Taako, Magnus, and Lucretia escaped from the whitecoats, but now their past is catching up with them.





	Feather Fall

**Author's Note:**

> I originally posted this on Tumblr for Duck Days, and finally decided to bring it to Ao3.

Smoke billowed into the moonlit sky above the ridge, casting strange shadows on the buildings below. The far side of the complex burned, a mysterious break in the system preventing the fire suppression system from kicking in. People milled around in confusion, some of them screaming and pointing, others trying to put as much distance between themselves and the fire as possible. A change in the wind blew smoke back across the complex, creating further chaos. Security doors that should have been closed off admitted the creeping flames into the rest of the buildings, and other sounds joined the screaming, shrieks and howls that were certainly not human. A few shapes raced for the edge of the complex, and were abruptly stopped when a ring of pylons surrounding the valley snapped to life, sending arcs of blue electricity between them and tingeing the smoke-filled air with the smell of cooked meat.

Far above the chaos, a pair of small shapes circled briefly, before peeling away towards the ridge.

“Not to, uh, overstate or anything,” Lup said, her voice roughened by smoke, “But I think we kinda…crushed it.”

 

Lup woke up with smoke still burning at the back of her throat. She slowly smiled up at the ceiling, savoring the memory of seeing that nightmare from her childhood go up in flames. Sometimes the dream was worse, much worse, but she could definitely live with reliving those few moments right before everything went wrong and right after it looked like they would fail. Two years of consequences for that night, she definitely felt she was owed a few good dreams.

Weirdly enough, the smoke smell wasn’t going away. In fact, it seemed like it was getting stronger.

Lup lunged out of bed, smacked her shin on one of the camping cots squeezed into the tiny room, swore loudly, and dashed towards the kitchen. She got there just in time to see Taako, somehow already dressed and with his hair in a long braid, smothering a pan with a soaked dish towel over the sink while Magnus tried to fan smoke out of the tiny kitchen window, frantically repeating “crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap!“ It didn’t look like anything was in immediate danger of catching on fire, so Lup let herself relax and leaned her hip against the counter.

“So I guess we’re having cereal for breakfast?” she said lightly. Taako snorted as he examined the remains of what had probably been really excellent eggs and bacon.

“You know we’ve been out of cereal for days, right? This was kinda sorta everything we had left,” Magnus said. He glanced at the silent fire alarm on the ceiling. “Should we be worried that that thing didn’t go off at all?”

Lup, who had disabled the alarm months ago so that she and Taako could cook without interruption, quickly said “Nope.” She pushed off the counter and went to stare over her brother’s shoulder at the gloopy mess that was their breakfast. “I’m guessing none of this was done on purpose?” The bacon at least looked salvageable, but the eggs were clearly a lost cause.

“Nah, we thought it would be fun to make the house even more of a health hazard,” Taako said.

 

“Cool.” She frowned. “We’re not really completely out of food, are we?”

 

“We still have plenty of jerky and Magnus’s hard candy,” someone called from across the room. Lup craned her neck and spotted Lucretia curled up on the sofa in the living room. She had a journal open in front of her, the page already half full of what Lup knew would be tiny, neat shorthand. “I think we can make a trip into town today,” she added, looking up. Her pen continued to scratch confidently across the page as she said, “It’s still pretty cold out, and we have a few days before anyone comes to check on the cabins.” Lup believed her. Lucretia may have only gotten a quick look at the cabin’s rental schedule months ago, but she kept excellent records and never forgot something she wanted to remember.

 

Magnus stopped trying to fan smoke out the window with his hands. “I vote for getting more food. And for leaving before the cabin people show up.”

 

“We have a few days,” Lucretia repeated. “You’re right though, we should go into town before we absolutely have to leave.” She closed her journal and sat up. “I could stay here and start cleaning up.”

 

Taako shook his head as he fished the last of the bacon out of the pan onto a plate, which he immediately whipped out of Magnus’s reach. “You can do whatever you want Luce, but it’s been months since we got here. I  _really doubt_ that we can get everything cleaned up in just a few days.” Everyone paused for a second to look at the mess that had accumulated out of view of the windows. Dishes were piled next to the narrow doorway into the kitchen, the twins had discarded bits of interesting sparkly things all around the room, garbage bags that none of them had gotten around to taking to the dumpster in town had been shoved under the kitchen table, and no one had made any attempt to keep the area of the front door clean, so there was a broad swath of dried mud leading into the house. That wasn’t even getting into the state of the one tiny bathroom and bedroom. They’d had the cabin to themselves all winter, and it showed.

 

Lucretia eyed the mess cautiously, obviously daunted. “We should do something about all this. What if we leave something behind?”

 

“Like what?” Magnus asked, making a grab for the plate of bacon. Taako noticed and quickly switched the plate to his other hand, nearly smacking Lup in the face. She yelped and smacked him back, the matter at hand briefly forgotten. Magnus stumbled back out of their way, a couple strips of bacon clenched triumphantly in his fist, while Lup tried to smack Taako again and Taako tried to keep the remainder of their breakfast from going flying across the kitchen.

 

“I made you breakfast!” Taako yelled in protest. He managed to squeeze around Magnus and made a weird little two-step dash into the living room, where he sat down next to Lucretia and offered her the plate of bacon.

 

“You _burned_  breakfast,” Lup retorted.

 

“It was Magnus’s fault!”

 

“Hey!”

 

“ _Guys,_ ” Lucretia said pleadingly. She accepted a piece of bacon from Taako, who pointedly glared at Lup. “We have to decide what we’re going to do.”

 

Lup pursed her lips. Lucretia was right, of course. The cabin had served them well all winter, but it wasn’t going to be safe for much longer. A few days might be too generous, especially since it had been getting steadily warmer over the past couple weeks. The problem was that if they left right now they’d still be too visible. Magnus could pass as an adult in a pinch, but the rest of them looked too young to be convincing. During the summer it wasn’t such a big deal- they’d dress in shorts and flip flops and chatter loudly at each other and most people would just roll their eyes and not even notice that Lup and Taako were wearing hoodies in the middle of summer. Anyone who saw them now would wonder why they weren’t in school, or notice that while Lup and Taako positively gleamed with brightly colored clothing and jewelry, they still looked a bit too ragged for kids with homes and parents. Add Lucretia and Magnus into that mix, and the whole situation was getting a little too obvious for Lup’s comfort.

 

So they couldn’t leave, and they couldn’t stay. Great.

 

“Look, we don't have to go anywhere yet,” she said at last. “I say we get ready to go, but don't leave until we have to.”

 

Lucretia made a vague gesture towards the trash bags under the table. “What about-?”

 

“If someone finds this place they won't need the mess to track us,” Magnus said. He'd polished off both pieces of bacon and was licking grease off his hands. “We've been here for  _three months_. Anyone who really wanted to find us could.”

 

“Ok, so no cleanup. We still need food,” Taako pointed out. “If we're not staying long anyway, I say Lup and I should go into town, see what the grocery store can do for us.”

 

Magnus glanced at Lucretia, who shrugged and nodded. “I guess I’ll stay here with Lucretia,” he said.

 

“You sure?” Lup asked.

 

He nodded. “Yeah. Safety first, right? Buddy system.”

  


Taako only realized how late in the morning it was when he and Lup got outside. The cabin was deep enough in the woods that it didn’t usually get much sun, but right now the front porch was bathed in daylight slanting beautifically through the tall dark trees. It was very pretty, and Taako was very sick of it. The security of having a roof over his head was starting to war with the feeling that if they stayed much longer something would go wrong. Which, fair enough, everyone else seemed to be picking up on too. It sucked thinking about it, so for the most part they avoided talking about it.

 

It didn’t help that as far as places to stay went, this one wasn’t bad. Sure it was tiny, but they had a bathroom and kitchen. Taako sighed and swung his backpack by the strap. He was going to miss that kitchen.

 

About a hundred feet from the cabin, the trees thinned out into a gravel-filled clearing with a firepit and paths leading to half a dozen other cabins. Birdsong in the background gave the whole scene an eerily peaceful feeling, as if he and Lup were trespassing somewhere people weren’t meant to be.

 

Lup walked into the very middle of the clearing and stretched tall, her satchel dangling from one hand. A pair of black and white wings spread wide, catching the sunlight to show off flashes of dark green iridescence. She shook out the feathers, scattering some loose fluff, before relaxing and folding them back down against her back. “I want to fly down today,” she announced with a bright smile.

 

“Sure,” Taako agreed. After all, the alternative was walking. He put his backpack on so it hung in front and carefully worked his wings through the long slits in his jacket. It actually felt nice to stretch them out, since the last time he’d flown anywhere was...crap. Too long. Lup surged upward and Taako followed, wincing as his joints popped. About three months too long.

 

Rising above the big broccoli-shaped trees gave them an impressive view of the surrounding forest, which stretched up behind them into a series of rolling mountains. In front the trees continued down until they abruptly hit farmland and turned into an interesting patchwork of cornfields and pasture. Taako flew higher, angling to find the right road before leveling off and soaring towards civilization.

 

It would have taken the better part of an hour to reach town on foot, mostly because of how the road wound back and forth across the mountainside. By wing, it took about fifteen minutes. Actually, calling it a town was probably too generous, since it was one street with a gas station, a tiny grocery store probably intended for campers driving up the mountain, and a laundromat. Magnus had scoped everything out when they first arrived and assured them that it was unlikely that anyone would notice four teenagers as long as they spaced out their visits.

 

Lup landed first, setting down behind the grocery store and quickly looking around for anyone who might have spotted her. At the all-clear signal Taako dropped down as well, and the two of them strolled around to the front of the building. A bit of paranoia made Taako pause for a second and glance up and down the street. There were a couple of cars parked at the laundromat, but other than that it looked deserted. He shook off his unease and plastered a big, cheerful smile on his face. Lup glanced at him and mimicked his grin before pushing open the door and walking in. The cashier didn’t really look up, just gave them a sort of sideways glance and a half-hearted smile.

 

The good news was that this wasn’t a fancy expensive specialty grocery store, just a quick stop for people who needed cereal or milk or whatever. The better news was that there was a pretty substantial section of the store devoted to non-perishable food. Lup grabbed a shopping basket and they started wandering the aisles.

 

“I've been thinking,” Taako started, once they were out of earshot of the cashier “that we really need a better mode of travel.”

 

“If you want to get murdered for hitchhiking, that is absolutely your prerogative,” Lup said lightly.

 

Taako rolled his eyes and deftly transferred a packet of beef jerky into his jacket pocket. “ _I meant_ that we don't have any way to communicate with our uh, ground team, and I know you hate having to split up.”

 

Lup paused by a display of crackers, giving Taako time to grab a couple boxes of protein bars which promptly vanished into his backpack. They’d done this enough to know how to draw the least attention, but the store was so deserted Taako doubted he needed to be concerned. The next aisle turned out to be mostly cold medicine and vitamins, which led to a brief flurry of activity as Lup helped him stuff his backpack and her satchel with the little bottles. None of them wanted to get scurvy, and the sealed bottles tended to last longer than most food, although Taako quietly dreaded the day when they’d have to live off of vitamins.

 

The next aisle was camping gear. Matches, a bottle of lighter fluid, and a couple rolls of duct tape went into Lup’s bag. “I guess we could get walkie-talkies or something.” She didn’t suggest cell phones. They both remembered what happened last time.

 

“I was thinking more along the lines of like, a car,” Taako admitted. It wasn’t, admittedly, a smart thought, but the idea of not having to separate from Magnus and Lucretia was appealing.

 

“You want to steal a car?” Lup said, brightening. “I could totally hotwire a car. Or-” she frowned, “maybe not. Magnus might know how.”

 

Taako snickered. “Sure, I bet Maggie’d love that…” He trailed off. Something wasn’t right.

 

A hand landed heavily on his shoulder and a very pleasant voice said, “You kids know shoplifting is illegal, right?”

 

Taako froze. He knew it was an Eraser without looking. He’d recognize that tone of voice anywhere. It was the kind of tone that said “You’re in trouble and I’m going to hurt you for it.” Two sharp points poked his neck and he risked a glance at Lup. She was frozen too, but her hand was halfway to her pocket. “None of that now,” the Eraser said, still pleasant, still calm, but with his claws digging into Taako’s neck. “The doctors want you two back undamaged, but they’d settle for only one.” Lup shuddered and slowly lowered her hand to her side.

 

Another Eraser came around the corner, all bright smiles as he reached for Lup’s satchel. Taako could tell she was trying to convey _fuck you_ without moving her face. The Eraser holding him grabbed Taako’s backpack and pulled it away without easing his grip.

 

Taako closed his eyes, prayed that Lup would run in the right direction, and slammed the edges of his now unencumbered wings upward into the Eraser’s face. A line of pain followed the Eraser’s claws as Taako pulled free and started running towards the back of the store. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lup duck and charge past the other Eraser, her hand disappearing into the pocket of her hoodie for just a second. He heard rather than saw the Erasers start to lunge.

 

There was a noise like  _phweeee!_  and a series of pops, and everything was suddenly very bright and very loud. Taako reached the door to the back room and slammed it open, Lup on his heels, and kept running without checking to see whether she’d actually set the store on fire.

 

The back room was a dark maze of shelves, but Taako had too much momentum to stop. Door, door, where’s the- there! This one was heavier than the other one, which might have been why the Eraser on the other side didn’t quite manage to take Taako’s head off. Claws passed inches in front of his nose and then the Eraser was inside. This one obviously didn’t have any concerns about being seen- he was fully transformed, complete with drool dripping off his teeth.

 

Taako backpedaled fast, grabbing Lup by the hand on the way back and pulling her around a shelf and under a table shoved into the corner. It wouldn’t be long before the two Erasers still in the store figured out where they’d gone, something the Eraser in the room with them seemed well aware of. He didn’t even bother following them further, just stood in front of the only way out and grinned.

 

“You don’t have another bomb handy, do you?” Taako asked out of the side of his mouth.

 

“Would have used it if I did,” Lup whispered back. Ok, great. The door they’d come through swung open and the other two Erasers entered. “I think they’re mad at me,” she muttered. The pair actually looked more disoriented than pissed off. One of them, Taako noted with frustration, was clutching his backpack by the strap. “Should we try to rush them?”

 

“Absolutely not,” Taako replied. There had to be something else they could do. From this position he could see that the room they were in was mostly storage, although he and Lup seemed to be hiding in the employee break area. Shelves blocked his view of the exit to the outside, which at least meant the Eraser in that direction probably couldn’t see them either, not that it mattered much. One Eraser at each door, one to search the room.

 

They were so dead.

 

If he could just get into his backpack, he could _do_ something, unless…. This was a storage space, which probably meant cleaning supplies too. Probably bleach and vinegar at least, which definitely was not Taako’s first choice, but what choice did they have at this point?

 

Lup poked him in the arm and held up the bottle of lighter fluid. Taako looked at her as if she were crazy- which she definitely was, because a flashbang was one thing but setting the _literal actual building on fire_ was something else entirely. She raised an eyebrow and Taako quickly weighed the odds of them dying via fire against them dying via chlorine gas. An Eraser growled somewhere in the room, causing the hairs on the back of Taako’s neck to stand up. He gave Lup a nod.

 

She grinned and pulled out a metal skewer and a couple of matches from her bag. Turning the bottle on its side she quickly poked a few holes in it, blocking the one on the underside with her finger. She hesitated for a second with her head cocked to one side, listening, then took a breath and sent the bottle skittering across the floor, leaving a trail of lighter fluid in its wake. “Move,” she whispered. Taako nodded, braced himself, and started creeping along the wall. He could see the exit now, with the Eraser standing guard. All he’d have to do was look to his right…

 

Lup touched his shoulder and he swallowed. Right. Ok. He reached back and squeezed her hand twice.

 

The lighter fluid went up like a dream. One of the Erasers screamed. Taako savagedly hoped he’d been set on fire. The door guard moved away, just a few steps, but it was enough for the twins to race by out into the open air. Taako’d been worried about more Erasers in the parking lot, but it seemed like the three in the store were the only ones.

 

Lup was already beating her wings hard as she ran, heedless of anyone who might see, and Taako hurried to catch up. They took to the sky as the fire alarms went off and the Erasers ran out. Taako noticed the cashier running out of the front, but no other employees. Then there wasn’t any more time for looking back as he and Lup gained height and started flying fast away from the little town.


End file.
